Report # 81439(Class A) Submitted by witness Lori Bowling on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.Daylight sighting by motorist along highway 149, ten miles SE of Lake City(Show Printer-friendly Version)
Footprint 2 (the next day) 37 59' 19.56" N 107 13' 05.67" W Elevation 11,282 ft
NEAREST TOWN: Lake City
NEAREST ROAD: Hwy 149
OBSERVED: Hello, I am Lori Bowling and what I saw was plain as day. Trust me when I say I am not a bigfoot believer, but after what I saw I sure in the hell am now! It wasn’t a shadow, not a glimpse. I was looking out the window looking for deer, moose etc. when out stepped from the edge of the woods a BIGFOOT. I watched as he turned to the right and started to walk uphill along the edge of the woods. Its gait was a glide.
The color was a dark blackish brown. The head was kind of molded into the shoulders. The arms were long and very hairy. I would bet it stood 7-9 ft tall based on the size of the small spruce trees. I have never been stumped for words, but this was a numbing experience. I couldn’t get the words out to tell Bill to stop the truck and tell him what I saw. I saw this critter take 4-5 big gliding steps before it left my view due to the road curve. I want to tell everyone, but I think they will think I am nuts. I saw what I saw and now that’s all I think about. Kind of spooky and exciting all at once.
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[Statement from husband ]
Lori and I (Bill) are both in our early sixties and have been married for nearly 39 years. I have learned over the years that you can only trust your senses and your friends. Lori is my best friend and we have no secrets. Like a lot of people, we are suspect of some of claims people make but are very open-minded to things we may not understand. We have never even thought about bigfoot type creatures really existing and were skeptical about sightings. I have no doubt that Lori saw what she saw. I have never seen her react like she did. Amazed, speechless, excited and yet in her eyes she seemed a bit frightened.
We Live in Lake City, Hinsdale County Colorado and have been residents for about 12 years. My family has been coming to this area since the early 1950’s. We have traveled, camped, hunted or fished on about every road, trail or creek in the area and have seen all types of wildlife. But never have any of our family ever seen a “bigfoot” or any signs of such a creature. I have never met a local from Hinsdale County that has ever claimed to see one. Yesterday that changed.
Lori and I and our dogs were traveling Hwy 149 towards Lake City from the south (Creed). 2026 has been a dry year, I am told the dryest on record. However it had been raining in areas over the last several days and we had just traveled through a mild thunderstorm as we approached the top of Slumgullion Pass. As we began slowly descending the pass in our truck and fifth wheel RV, about 1/8 mile from the CR 50 turnoff (dirt road to Deer Lakes, a favorite moose sighting spot, then goes several miles to Cathedral, Powderhorn and finally rejoins Hwy 149 about 26 miles north of Lake City). In this area the beetle kill trees had been cut and the area cleared for about 200 feet either side of the road. This was done a few years ago and the largest saplings in the area were between 4 to 5 feet tall.
Lori had been looking down the slope for wildlife. Suddenly she turned to me and tried to speak but nothing came out. I thought she had seen Elk or Moose, but she finally said “I just saw bigfoot, stop the truck.” I looked out her side but could not see down the slope. I didn’t know at that moment if she was real or just messing with me and I told her I would turn around at CR 50 and come back up, which we did. By this time, I was absolutely convinced that she was serious and she immediately worried that I might think her crazy.
We drove to the pullout just above where she had seen it and stopped. Got out and walked up to the top with binoculars but could not see anything. We decided to go home (about 10 miles) and drop off the RV and come back to search for tracks.
We walked the entire area. There were lots of deer and elk signs. There were no people tracks in the area as it is not an area with trails or any reason for people to walk there. We found only one footprint, a barefoot print. I took a picture of the print with my 4 ¼ inch knife to show the size. Originally there were a couple of red (raspberry?) stems embedded in the track. Usually, plants will rise from the track in time particularly after a nice rainfall. This made me believe the print was somewhat recent.
Although the print seemed small for the critter she described as about 7 or 9 feet tall. There was no reason for that print to be where it was. I pulled the raspberry stem from the print and photographed it. I never saw the creature, but she described how it looked and the way it moved. I later began looking up stories of other sightings and they were just a perfect match. I am as convinced as she is of what she saw.
I walked along both sides of the road where the ground was soft and easily disturbed to see if the creature had crossed the road and found no other prints other than deer and elk. The next day we returned to the woods to look for any sign or footprints. We found one possible footprint not much larger than the print from the day before. Are they really footprints? They seem to be. A storm and lightning came up and we had to leave before we could finish scanning the area. We will go back but I think the weather will destroy any sign.
OTHER WITNESSES: no
OTHER STORIES: I have not heard of any incidents in the area and never knew anyone who did.
TIME AND CONDITIONS: 3:41 PM. Overcast and some storms in the area.
ENVIRONMENT: Sighting occured on Hwy 149 about 1/4 mile from the top of Slumgullion pass and near the Cr50 turnoff. The are has a lot of bettle kill spruce and has been clear cut about 200 feet either side of the road. The creature was on the north side of the road down hill about 200 feet at the edge of the woods
Follow-up investigation report by BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:
About BFRO Investigator Matthew Moneymaker:
Matthew Moneymaker is originally from the Los Feliz District of Los Angeles, California.
- Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
- Juris Doctorate (Law degree) from University of Akron School of Law
- Founder of the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization,1995.
- Writer and co-producer of the Discovery Channel documentary "Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science", 2001.
- Co-producer of the TV Series "Mysterious Encounters" for the Outdoor Life Network (OLN Channel), 2002.
- Producer of the "2003 International Bigfoot Symposium" (Willow Creek Symposium) DVD set, 2004.
- Co-host of "Finding Bigfoot" on Animal Planet Channel, 2010 - 2017.
- Current Director of the BFRO
- Available for private bigfoot expeditions and conferences. To inquire please email ContactUS@BFRO.net
